House District 61 candidate Q&A: Robert Petrowsky

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My unique experiences growing up on a struggling business and learning early how to make sound financial decisions to help it survive, combined with my experience with local fire teams, gives me a unique perspective into the diverse needs of Summit County and the ability to lead it in economic growth and development.

I have experience managing a small business, recently set up a commercial greenhouse for vegetable production and have experience with a fire management team. I know both how to start and grow a business as well as manage public lands. My current job with the Vail Public Safety Communications Team (911 Dispatch) has given me the experience to be able to work with a diverse group and resolve conflicts. I work closely with the CBI helping to manage our access to their records system and understand the needs of both state and local law enforcement, as well as some of the strengths and shortfalls of the judicial system.

The most critical issue I see is reigning in the problem with beetle kill. Summit County depends on its natural resources for tourism. I will issue permits to cut out dead trees and work to remove enough dead timber that we can begin burning out undergrowth and starting the next cycle of forest growth. Unlike other candidates I will work to ensure the government doesn't increase funding for something as simple as a permit. I will reorganize existing jobs and work to grow the industry while minimizing tax spending. By doing this, I will increase total revenue, both for the state and the county. I will work with the industry to ensure we bring in the necessary support jobs to avoid shipping our resources out of state for processing. I will work closely with the industry to make sure we create a sustainable forestry business that will not collapse as the dead trees are removed.

As a third-party candidate, I am not constrained to work within the set bounds of my party. I see good things happening on both sides of the aisle, depending on the issue. I will not tackle any issue that I cannot support with strong numbers or logic. I feel this will help to bring people to my side too.

I will work to eliminate corporate taxes at the state level. If that money is spent on payroll, there will be more money to tax in personal income, sales tax and a multitude of other ways. It is a mathematical certainty that tax revenue will increase with a decrease in corporate tax. I will couple this sound tax policy with a competing mode of funding businesses to ensure we have strong growth. Large corporations can be funded with Industrial Revenue Bonds for day to day operations at a very cheap rate, but small businesses are usually limited to conventional bank loans. I will work to transform existing funding mechanisms at the state level into a program similar to the IRBs. My programs already mentioned on forest health will also create a new industry within Summit County. I will work to ensure that the resources are processed locally, rather than being shipped out of state. This will grow a non-tourism based industry that will provide more seasonal stability and help the service industry from experiencing the roller coaster ride from peak season to mud season. Summit County also has a number of government jobs, such as CDOT, that I will work to protect and increase funding for through increasing the tax base as discussed above.